Images of the Week – Jan 24-30

This is the start of (I hope) a weekly series where I will post some of my favorite or interesting shots from the previous week.  I will try not to cross-post too many of these on Flickr, but there may be a duplicate or two here and there.

Birds and Spring seem to be the major theme from the past week.  The local pair of White-tailed Kites have been working on their nest, and there may also be another pair staking claim to the northern side of the park.  Likewise, a pair of Mute Swans have given some signs that they may start working on a nest.  They have both been pulling dead reeds, but have not made any effort to construct a nest.  Meanwhile, the mustard and wild radish is near peak bloom at the park, and wildflowers are beginning to bloom in the foothills.  All of the early rain and recent warm weather have gotten Spring off to an early start this year.

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“Winter’s Color”  –  Rainbow over the Santa Ynez Mountains

Wintry weather in Southern California

A cold storm blew through last weekend and some mysterious white stuff  graced the Santa Barbara mountains.  Unfortunately the clouds didn’t clear until the snow completely melted from the front range.  However, from the ridge-top there was plenty of snow to be seen on the distant mountain peaks.  Sunset would have been a better time to photograph them, but it is always hard to know how long the clouds will last, so waiting is always a gamble.  As it was, there were clouds forming literally in front of me as I perched atop the ridge.  The constantly moving clouds created some amazing light, with foreground vegetation illuminated against dark skies.  These conditions changed from minute to minute and I could have spent all day photographing along the mountain top.  Unfortunately I had to hit the road, but I’m really glad I made the trip.

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“Backcountry Snow”  –  Santa Ynez Range, Los Padres National Forest